STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 5, 2000-- Research Highlights Top Five Strategies for Managing Work/Life Balance

America has long embraced the notion that the complete separation of work and home lives is key to achieving balance, but research released today by Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) revealed that work/life integration is the far more common and productive reality for today's time-crunched households. Nearly half (47 percent) of the employed respondents reported that communication for work has spread beyond regular business hours, and nearly a third (32 percent) reported conducting household business communications while at work. The study reveals that messaging tools, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and e-mail, are key to integrating personal, professional and mobile lives because they allow individuals to bridge skills and management techniques learned in the workplace into the home. The study shows that messaging strategies are transforming 21st century households into organized corporate structures, resulting in workers mirroring successful work management techniques at home.

"The explosion of `smart' messaging tools has paved the way for individuals to manage the often chaotic rhythms of their households using the same techniques that have been in place to minimize workplace chaos for decades," said Meredith Fischer, co-author of the study and a vice president at Pitney Bowes. "The transfer to the household of tools, knowledge, experience and skills gained in the workplace gives workers the ability to operate as efficiently at home as they do on the job through active time management, delegation and teamwork techniques. These same messaging tools have given individuals unprecedented access into one another's lives, making work and home integration a productive and inevitable fact of life."

According to the study, as workers, especially working parents, are increasingly saying, "It's all just my life," more households are embracing integration versus separation strategies to achieve an optimal work/life balance. "Although many people still hold on to the ideal of separate domains for work and personal life, the reality is that integration is more commonly the default mode for most people," added Fischer.

Five Techniques for Achieving Work/Life Nirvana: Active Integration is the Key

Over 50 percent of survey respondents reported that they regularly speak with their spouse, children, friends or other family members while at work. "Given the number of instances in which work and home lives overlap, individuals have learned how to actively maintain control over household and workplace `work' simultaneously. The result is active integration," said Fischer. The following emerged as the leading management techniques and strategies for achieving an optimal work/life balance:

• Create Message-Free Zones: Turn off your cellular phone or pager to avoid interruptions during personal time and set aside a specific time or day to conduct household work such as paying bills or scheduling appointments. In doing so, individuals increase their personal time and avoid getting cornered into conducting household or business-related work during personal time that is designated for yourself, family or friends.

• Swap Skills & Assign Roles: Use the same management, organizational and technological skills you learn on the job at home, and teach those skills to your family. For example, if you are accustomed to using a PDA at work to track meetings, use the same PDA at home for personal responsibilities. Teach household members how to use the messaging tools they find most practical. In addition, let the individual who is most skilled in a particular area manage that area in the home (i.e., assign a master scheduler, communications manager, transaction maker, salesperson and technology manager).

• Selective Access: Direct communications to the tool that works best for you. For example, if you prefer being reached via cellular phone, tell personal or work-related contacts to reach you that way, therefore avoiding receiving the same message on multiple tools and limiting your sense of obligation to check multiple tools for important messages.

• Synchronize Schedules: Create a centralized calendar that updates everyone's schedules and locations. This can be as simple as maintaining a wall calendar or previewing the next day's activities at dinner.

• Share the Work: No one person can tackle all household obligations while maintaining a regular work schedule. Therefore, assign particular household obligations such as bill paying or grocery shopping to designated family members so that each person has a designated role and responsibility within the household.

"Today's household is a fast-paced environment comprised of people, tasks, tools and practices," added Fischer. "Our study found that management of these dynamics relies heavily upon messaging tools and practices, and the ability to mirror your household as closely to a managed organization as possible."

About the Study: "The New Household as a Managed Organization" is Pitney Bowes' second annual study that takes an in-depth look at household communication flows and the emerging household ecology. Commissioned in partnership with The Institute for the Future, the study drew on ethnographic interviews, telephone surveys and diaries that recorded the communications habits of households. This is the first and only study of its kind that examines the roles messaging tools play in managing household dynamics -- how tools affect work/life integration and how the use of these tools impacts the positive or negative outcome of household to business interactions. The 2000 study consisted of interviews with household members of varying ages, education levels and incomes.

For more than 30 years, the Institute for the Future, based in Silicon Valley, California, has forecasted critical technological, demographic and business trends to help clients plan successfully for their future, including government groups, nonprofit organizations and major corporations throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Pitney Bowes Inc. is a $4.4 billion global provider of informed mail and messaging management. It serves 118 countries through dealer and direct operations. For more information about the company, visit www.pitneybowes.com.

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